Heaps – Honoring God
Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 03/02/2025
Foundation Scriptures:
And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the fields; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. 2 Chronicles 31:5-10 KJV
1. Ahaz.
a. Hezekiah’s father was Ahaz.
b. He was not a good king because he turned to foreign gods and worshipped them.
c. The nation of Israel was surrounded and oppressed by their enemies.
d. Instead of turning to God on behalf of himself and his people, he trespassed even more against God, dishonoring Him and His temple.
2. Hezekiah.
a. 2 Chronicles 29:1-3 KJV –– Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
b. Hezekiah was different from his father.
c. He made a choice to fully serve God—personally, from his heart.
d. And he commanded and inspired the people to do the same.
e. The first thing he did was to reopen the doors of the temple which had been shut by his father.
f. The priests and Levites had not been performing their functions for many years, so Hezekiah brought them in and charged them to sanctify themselves and the temple.
g. He confessed and acknowledged the sins of the previous generations—particularly his father—who had brought shame and judgment upon the tribe of Judah.
h. Then he made a new covenant with God, so that His fierce wrath would be turned from them (2 Chr. 29:10).
3. Restoration of Worship and Sacrifices.
a. Before the blessing of God could flow once again toward the nation, they had to turn to God.
b. They had to turn to Him with humble hearts of contrition and repentance.
c. They had to restore His ordinances and do the things He required.
d. They had to return to the Lord in their worship and in their offerings.
e. Hezekiah charged the priests and Levites to start and to continue to minister to the Lord in the temple (2 Chr. 29:11).
f. All the heads of the Levite families came to cleanse the temple—to remove all the unclean things and cleanse and sanctify all the articles of worship (2 Chr. 29:15-19).
g. Hezekiah restored worship in the temple—worshipping God with instruments and voices and the animal sacrifices and burnt offerings (2 Chr. 29:25-36).
4. Passover.
a. 2 Chronicles 30:1 NKJV –– And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.
b. The Passover had not been properly celebrated for a very long time.
c. Hezekiah invited all those of the northern kingdom to join them in Jerusalem to honor the Lord together (2 Chr. 30:1-14).
d. Not everyone accepted the invitation, but all those who came together celebrated a Passover, the likes of which had not been held since the days of Solomon, 260 years previously (2 Chr. 30:15-17).
e. Hezekiah interceded for the people to receive healing, and the Lord heard his prayer (2 Chr. 30:18-20).
f. They extended the feast another seven days and used the occasion to teach the people from the Word of God (2 Chr. 30:21-27).
g. 2 Chronicles 30:26 NKJV –– There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
5. Restoration.
a. God wants to abundantly bless His people, but He can only do it if we honor and obey Him.
b. We must come to God on His terms—not ours—and serve Him fully, doing everything He commands.
c. Hezekiah and the people destroyed all idolatry and places of idol worship (2 Chr. 31:1).
d. He restored the twenty-four courses of the priests and the daily sacrifices (2 Chr. 31:2-3).
e. He restored the principles of the tithe and the support of the house of God and of the ministers (2 Chr. 31:4-10; 16-19).
f. Once all this was done, Hezekiah restored the storehouses to receive the heaps of the abundance of the tithes that the people joyfully brought in obedience and worship to the Lord (2 Chr. 31:11-15).
g. As Hezekiah led, and the people followed, in serving and obeying God with their hearts, voices, sacrifices, and tithes and offerings, God’s blessings were poured out upon them in heaps of abundance.